Of their debut album, Jason Ritchie wrote: 'Eden's Curse have produced a stunning debut album that will appeal to fans of not only melodic hard rock but those who like more metal in their music. If you enjoy music by Def Leppard, Evidence One, TNT, pink Cream 69 et al then add this album to your collection ASAP. An amazingly strong debut that stands up well to repeated plays and they will have to go some to beat this on album number two but I am sure they will!'

Paul Logue and Michael Eden answer our questions...

1. What are you currently up to? (E.g. touring/studio, etc.)

ME: Getting ready to release our debut album, and it's surely time. We are doing heavy promotion at the moment with interviews and stuff like that. Good fun!

2. How did the band come together? Didn't it start on the MelodicRock.Com message board?

ME: Actually Paul saw me on quite a few message boards as I get around kinda like the hookers in Chicago less the disease. I was tired of the wanna be game players and decided to branch out overseas. Paul found me and it was the greatest day in history. The rest is the icing on the cake!!

PL: Pete (Newdeck, Drummer) and I were label mates on the Now & Then Records and we had discussed a few production matters but never worked together, but we got on very well. I promised to let him know if anything came up in the future and I thought he was the perfect guy for this band. We put an ad out on Melodicrock.com for a guitarist and we received fifty plus applications.

We said something like "music in the vien of Queensryche, Evidence One and Pink Cream 69" and the next thing we knew we were receiving a reply from Evidence One lead singer Carsten Schulz. He told us that he was managing a guitarist called Thorsten Koehne. We checked him out and were blown away and he joined the line up. The final piece of the puzzle was again provided by Carsten when we ran into issues with a session keyboard player we were using. Ferdy joined in June before we left for Germany to work with Dennis Ward.

3. Could you take us through the songs on the excellent new album?

Book Of Life (Intro)

ME : Some of the coolest Dennis Ward stuff I could have imagined. When I heard what David Readman had done with the huge choir I nearly fell off the chair. It gives a perfect text book definition of what we wanted to say about the song that follows.

PL : We wanted a typically haunting Dennis Ward introduction to precede the opening track ‘Judgement Day' and boy did we get it! A Gregorian styled piece wonderfully written and performed by the super talented Ferdy Doernberg featuring Friar Readman and the Muggensturm Monks in the background … oh, and a big scary voice!

Judgement Day

ME : This is the song that we knew from the start would be the album opener. I wanted lots of guitars on this one. I had some serious things to say about my past. Writing these lyrics helped vent away some bad vibes from a situation with family members that had gone more than bad. I remember hearing the demo thinking, god what have I fallen into with this guy named Paul Logue?

To me this one's about those who throw the stone from a glass house without looking at themselves, or the bigger picture. The cut runs deep as JLT once said. It's about always being there for family, or a friend and watching them throw away a relationship they seemed to never want.

In reality it could be about anyone who never got the big picture. I really wonder how many of those types exist in our modern society. When Thorsten Koehne our guitar player walked into our lives I knew our prayers had been answered. The guy is a monster guitarist and one of the greatest players and nicest guys I could ever imagine working with. An awesome performance from the entire band. I'm really proud of this one. It rips from start to finish!!

PL : This was the first track that I presented to Mike for the record and it pretty much set the tone of the album and the band's sound. It features some wonderful vocals by Mike and some outrageous lead work from Thorsten. I really dig the clean intro and then the power riff kicks in and you are floored!

Eyes Of The World

ME : This one came to us early in the writing stages. I felt the demo Carsten Lizard Schulz (Evidence One) sent was very strong but I had some other ideas as to where I wanted to take this one. Great guitars from Thorsten and some of the most hammering bass I have ever heard. One word - killer!!

PL : When Carsten and I started working on tracks for the record he mentioned that he had a left over song from Evidence One's “Tattooed Heart” album lying around. As I am such a huge fan of the band and that album I said “OK, let's hear it”. I wasn't prepared for what followed! Killer song and very very Eden's Curse! Here's the man himself with an insight into the track …

CS : Originally written for Tattooed Heart, very early on. Features a brilliant guitar melody by Robby Boebel. Lyrically it's about not giving up, when you kind of feel the weight of the world on your shoulders, basically everybody blaming your for almost everything.

PL: So it's not about my wife after all ??? LOL

Stronger Than The Flame

ME : This was one of the last songs we recorded for the album. The video footage is scary. I think this one has maximum attitude behind it. I took all the things Carsten had built, which I thought were great, and revamped the entire vibe to fit my style a little better.

This is truly one of the most balls out performances I've ever given in a studio setting. I kept thinking back to the old STEELER and KEEL days. I loved Ron's passion for vocal delivery and wanted to try similar things. I really like all the guitars on this one as well as the huge drums and bassline.

PL : This was the first track that I presented to Carsten to work on. His reply, which I kept was “BRILLANT STUFF!!! Honestly, dude!!! This really rocks!!!”. My inspiration for this song was Lynch Mob meets Pink Cream 69, in fact the working title was “Lynch Cream”. Again some awesome guitar work from Thorsten and Mike's vocals have attitude with a capital f*cking “A” !!! I love the groove on this one too. Damn my bass sounds good J

ME : A very personal journey for me to take with another song writer. I had gone to Paul and requested something special for this album and gave him the subject matter. He added a heart felt vibe that I never quite captured the last time around in my previous adventures. It really blows me away to know that this beautiful piece comes from the same guy who wrote “Don't Bring Me Down”. Brilliant keyboard work on this one.

PL : I really enjoy writing ballads and this one was no different. I think the best songs I have written just flow out of me very easily and this one was the same. I would say the music came together in no more than ten minutes, as did the original lyric content. A tough challenge to accept from Mike but I think we nailed it. Some lovely piano and Hammond on the chorus by Ferdy. I'd swear that was Dann Huff on lead guitar!

After The Love Is Gone

ME : I remember driving around Illinois on the back streets
thinking where the hell am I, and when will I get there? I was nearly three
hours late to start the demo recordings for this album. Have you ever tried to
drive in Illinois?

The streets can often times lead you on a wild goose chase. I
did three of the original demos in Illinois at my buddy Sean's studio. I think I
kept a few of his ideas on this. The most melodic of The Curse songs and I love
the Journey feel. Perry and Soto have always been vocal influences so hopefully
I captured some of their power and vibe.

PL : The second track that I sent to Mike for the album and another ball buster! A little more melodic than the other rockers, especially in the vocal department, but some great riffing by Thorsten and delicious backing vocals on the chorus from messers Eden, Readman and Doogie White!

Fly Away

ME : I was really happy to hear the Pete Newdeck attack on this one. The thundering drums will make the Country & Western folk drool onto their bibs if they ever hear this one. A great message and one of the coolest songs on the album. Euro Metal Keyboards all the way and Guitars from hell. Fly Away from the rain and thunder … to start again!!

PL : I was listening to a LOT of Edguy when I wrote this song and I loved how they balanced power and melody so easily. I wanted a heavy tuned down “D” riff with an AOR sing-a-long chorus. It does exactly what it says on the tin! Killer double kick playing by Pete on this one. I also love the Keyboard V's Guitar battle between Ferdy and Thorsten in the verses. I'd pay money to watch that!

All I had lyrically was the complete chorus and Carsten and Mike wrote the verses. I notice so many people in the UK getting tired of the same old same old, it's probably the crap weather! They would up sticks and immigrate to Australia or wherever. I think that's cool. Moving onto sunnier climates and pastures new … and starting all over again. Fly safely little birdy!

What Are You Waiting For

ME : A little ditty that has all the influences of us in one tight package. Guitars, drums and melody. Huge chorus vocals that Dennis had a great time mixing! Carsten insists the girls keep him waiting. I insist that he hire Sir Peter Newdeck and his elite team of killer girls who will never keep him waiting!!!! Just kidding Pete J

PL : This had a working title of ‘Koffler' after the PC69 guitarist, as when I came up with that opening riff I thought it sounded like something he would write. The riffs just kept coming and this grew some arms and legs, and by the time Mr Newdeck finished it was a bona fide monster called Frank! Another track we co-wrote with Mr Schulz which has some great sing along melodies! Mike's vocals on the verses are a particular highlight for me!

CS : Lyrically this is about being unable to understand why she doesn't say "yes" and keeps me waiting on and on.

Eden's Curse

ME : This is a song that tells the story just as it was if you choose to believe. What happens in the garden stays in the garden unless it effect's all of mankind forever. Why did she have to bite that f*cking apple? It really f**ked up my entire mojo I swear. A heart pounding groove that puts the hook above all else. Did I mention our guitar player and his skills to tame the ultimate beast are just brutal on this one!!?

PL : Oh the pressure's of writing an anthem! I have visions of were Eddie comes onstage when Maiden play ‘Iron Maiden' similarly we'd have a huge apple chasing Mike across the stage! J I wanted this track to have a great groove with a pumping rhythm section, all wrapped up in a melodic acoustic guitar hook. I love the heavy riff that comes in during the verses, which reminds me of early Jaded Heart and the riffs from there on bow down to the altar of George Lynch. The harmonies by David and Doogie on the outro are breathtaking!

Don't Bring Me Down

ME : Thorsten brought this ass kicker in and we decided it was a bit different vibe wise but a killer jam none the less. I could see our live show open with this. Did I just say live show? Booking agents take note - we are available for world domination when you are! A shameless plug never hurt anyone did it?

This one is clearly about people who stand in your way of being happy. The guy who says you'll never go on to do bigger things without him. Well, the vote is in. We are driving up the fast lane and never looking back, or is it we are riding up the fast lane while you were playing your little games? As Thorsten would say - when all else fails just shred! He did and damn does it kick my ass!!!!!!!!

PL : This was Thorsten's song which I helped arrange, with Pete, and wrote lyrics for with Mike. The fastest song on the album which sounds like Malmsteen doing Motley Crue! Some awesome guitar licks and runs on this, including one which the bass doubles, that took me four months to learn! J Ferdy plays some oustanding Hammond on this track too.

Heaven Touch Me

ME : This one was a great vibe in the studio. Dennis was really wound up smoking like a chimney at his smoking window. You would have to see this to believe it. His young daughter was talking to him while outside. I remember trying to do the tracks and in the cans I could hear him talking to her. His family was a riot. Anyway, this is basically about Paul and I and how lucky we felt to have met and become great friends and partners when thousands of miles separated us in distance. This is really more our anthem than Eden's Curse in my opinion. After all it was not us in the garden with young Eve.

PL : More PC69 / Queensryche riffage and possibly some of the best vocal work from Mr Eden on the record in my opinion! Queensryche would be proud of that middle section and the solo is just absolutely out of f*cking hand! Lyrically it was about this band and all of the great things that were happening. It was like there was the involvement of a higher power. Great chorus penned by Carsten!

The Bruce (Intro)

ME : The first time I heard this I thought Titanic!! Ferdy needs to do movie scores in the future. An interesting character is all I can say about the guy. One would never expect to hear such things out of a master such as F.D.!! A crazed bald man with attitude galore. Crank up the track that follows.

PL : I'll explain the subject on the following track next, but I asked Ferdy to give me an intro piece that could slot beautifully onto the soundtrack of the movie ‘Braveheart' and boy oh boy did he deliver. This knocked me off my chair when I first heard it and it still gets the hairs on the back of my neck standing up!

Fall

ME : This one will get the girls next door in a frenzy!! The subject matter on this is all about Paul's homeland in Scotland. I can talk all day about Presidents who get head in the oval office and he can talk about the actual battlegrounds he has visited. Too f*cking cool to believe. This has a superb performance by everyone. I can't think of anything cooler than Paul's neighbour blasting this one 8 months before our album release. What do my neighbours think? Trust me, you are better off not knowing!!

PL : Probably the most challenging song I have ever written. When exploring subject ideas for lyrics I happened to be reading a supplement in a Sunday newspaper celebrating the 700th anniversary of the coronation of King Robert The Bruce of Scotland. Most of you should be familiar with the name, but maybe not with the story. I concentrated on when King Robert had lost his throne and his family had been kidnapped by the English Army and he fled into the Scottish caves. He was ready to give up. Or was he ??? Musically it starts with a haunting acoustic guitar and builds up to a monster Queensryche like riff. I love Mike's vocals on this track and the chorus is awesome. This is my favourite guitar solo on the record by a country mile!

We All Die Young

ME : It was about three years ago on my brother Rick's day off and we were out on a spending spree. I'd usually pick him up and we would go shopping to buy music related collectors stuff or what have ya. Anyway, I usually sing in the car if I'm in the mood and drive him insane. This song from the movie Rock Star was in the CD player. I remember telling Rick that one day I'd record that for fun, I don't think he believed me. Little did I know that a year later I would record it with guys who took it as serious as the guy who wrote the song. Everyone loves Eileen and The Curse loves Eve. Go figure. I hope we did Steelheart and The Dragon proud!!!! Live the Curse!!

PL : I can't even remember how we got around to covering this but I love the way it turned out. When we were in the studio Dennis kept doing these hilarious muttering impressions of Bruce Springsteen singing the “Streets of Philadelphia” during the intro. Mike does a great Matijevic and there are some lovely touches from Ferdy on piano and Thorsten rips like a demon here! We sent the track to Mike Matijevic to hear and he gave us a big thumbs up. Now that's cool !!!

European Bonus Track ...

What Are You Waiting For (Alt. Mix)

PL : A bit of dream come true for Mike with him sharing lead vocals with David Readman, Doogie White and Carsten Schulz on the one track! This has to be heard to be believed !!!

4. How did you hook-up with AFM Records? What do you hope they will do promotion wise for the band?

ME: Well we waived a flag in the air and they saluted us, it was truly that simple. They saw a great album and band and took advantage of such witty deals!! Working with AFM thus far has been a pleasure!! Now....Where is the tour? Thats what I hope they do besides promotion for the band!!! They rock!

The other labels are behind us as well. Thank God for people who are not blinded by the frontier of greed and hopeless thinking!!! Some people get it and some don't. To the labels who didn't.....Assume the position!!!

5. Paul - You appear on David Readman's (Pink Cream 69) debut album. How did you get involved in this and any plans to do some live dates at all?

PL: I have known David for a few years after designing his website for him. He didn't even know I was a musician and eventually over time we started writing songs together (for another project) and I played bass on a couple of demos for his solo album.

Come album time I was intially only going to play on some songs but I ended up doing the whole record and I wrote two songs - Don't Let It Slip Away and Gentle Touch with David, with the former being recorded for a video. I was delighted at that especially as I wrote the song about my wife!

6. Michael - You're a new voice to many. Have you recorded with any bands previously and who have been your influences in your vocal style and why?

ME: I was the voice and leader of a band called SEVEN TEN from the Midwest. We did one album back in 2003 for Metal Mayhem Music called Love and War. We stole that title from Lillian Axe. I now see Gary Barden from MSG fame is now using the same title as well. I'm influenced by many of the greats. Plant, Perry, Dio, Stanley, St. Holmes and dozens more~!~!

7. How do you both view the current rock scene? There have been some very strong hard rock releases so far this year including Pink Cream 69, the return of Burn, David Readman, Scared Heart and more. Have you seen a upswing in interest in hard rock and is there a future in gigs or will it become mainly studio based bands only?

ME:There is no upswing. I think the business is actually at an all time low. I do have faith in the bands that are lucky enough to record and tour. The fans that are left that truly support the scene are killer. The posers.....Well, give em a old school Wham album and tell em to call it a day!!

PL: I agree that there has been many strong releases this year, but being as we shopped the record around we got first hand experience on the financial position of the many of the genre's labels. Some of the offers we were made by labels at the forefront of this genre were a complete and utter disgrace.

I also think seeing the recent Thunderground festival being cancelled due to poor sales says it all. We think this genre is underground and healthy but at the end of the day people are not supporting it enough. We know our album has been downloaded on the torrent sites over 500 times - that could be the difference to this band playing live or not. If you download it and like it then please support the band by buying it, otherwise we may not be around for as long as we'd like to be!

8. Paul - Cry Havoc had their debut re-issued via Majestic Rock. Is there any unreleased Cry Havoc songs not yet released and what were the highlights/lowlights of the whole Cry Havoc experience?

PL: I spent the last two years recording the demos for the 2nd album with Stevie and a new guitar player. Majestic Rock loved the demos but for some reason decided not to support the recordings, which was a major disappointment.

We actually started the recordings - all the drums were complete, keys too and acoustic guitars, but the other guys lost interest and eventually after MONTHS of trying to get somewhere I decided to call it a day. T

hings were beginning to take off with Eden's Curse and I decided to concentrate on that were my talents were being appreciated and my time wasnt being wasted. Cry Havoc is done for good and those songs won't ever see the light of day as they are not fit to be released. I may use some of them in other projects for the future as onme or two are great songs. We'll see.

As for highlights - getting the album out after it sitting on a shelf for five years was satisfying and some supports like opening for Skin, however our whole history was dogged with problems and dodgy deals - the low's definetly outweighed the highs. Sad but true!

9. What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

ME: More music!! The more I can get the better off I am. Art and computer stuff are just a few hobbies. I stay real busy believe me!!

PL: I still work in a day job but most of my spare time is spent with my family - I became a father for the first time in February of this year - a gorgeous baby daughter Emma. So as you can imagine I have my hands pretty full. I also build websites for people in between family/job/music. God I'm tired ;-)

10. Message for your fans?

ME: Anyone that supports this band or hard rock in general is ok by us! Please buy our album and support something real. If you can't afford it then steal it!! Get it anyway you can!!!!! I guarantee if your looking for ass kicking Rock N' Roll it won't let you down!! Thanks for reading this interview as well and for all the letters you guys send us! We only hang with the hardcore and the metal fans are the best!!!!!!! Cheers, Mike.

PL: Thank you for all your support and we hope you truly enjoy the album. Hope to see you on tour, someday, somewhere! Stay Cursed, Regards, Paul.